Danielle of the World Rewrite
by YouCanOnlyPretend
Summary: Traveling the world. It's what Danielle wanted... right? When she gets dragged into joining a family, Dani doesn't want to leave. Now, she has to avoid all of her cousin's enemies with no one by her side. Rated high T for a shit ton of swearing and adult themes. Original story to be taken down soon.
1. Chapter 1

**hey look a rewrite**

 **Alright, some things to remember:**

 **This is a rewrite of my original Danielle of the World. I will be taking down the story after I hit chapter 5, so y'all have a limited time to read it- but don't actually do that, please don't read it.**

 **It's set in 2017. I do not want to do the math for ages n' shit and I don't actually remember anything from the 2000's, we'll stick with things I know.**

 **I swear a lot.**

 **Lots of filler. No seriously, like most of the things I put in here could be summarized easily in less than 500 words (ew where's the fun in that)**

 **Most of the story will be OCs and ghosts that had been confirmed to be workin' for Vlad, along with those who don't. Mostly, it's just about discovery and friendship and other fun stuff.**

 **Updates will be slow. It's not that I have a problem with writing, it's just that I'll open a document, write, like, a paragraph and say "fuck it" and leave.**

 **And uh, Danielle of the World, I hope will have at least 1k words per chapter, unless it's an AN in which I will feel bad.**

Danielle sat in the chair. Plastic seats were lined up against the wall, with yellows, reds, blues, greens and - _oh wow how do you even pronounce that? Sh-are-truse? Chartreuse? Yeah, that's it._ It was quite an ugly color for a chair, if she had to be honest. Her contrasting purple-red bag placed on top of the color wasn't very inviting. Well, she could always move it to the other side of her, but that would just land it on the table of magazines and even with her limited knowledge of the world, even she knew that, as a guest, it wouldn't be courteous to dump your own things over others.

Well, she wasn't _exactly_ a guest. She had been caught shoplifting at a nearby local store. Her sweatshirt was getting a bunch of holes in it and one of the strings was sucked into itself from her pulling on it when she was nervous but was afraid she would get it permanently stuck if she tried to phase it through.

A green hoodie, a bright pastel that wasn't the shade of her ghost form's eyes but pretty damn close (besides, what are the odds of getting something the exact shade of your eyes?). Before anyone could understand what was going on, she was already taking off toward the exit. But with her luck, someone was bound to stop and her - and they did. Some buff guy who's name is probably Brad or Chet stopped her, claiming that she needed to come with him and to stop trying to put the hoodie on because it's too late to try that.

Danielle had screwed up. She knew she should have used her powers to get away somehow, but after an hour of debating whether looking suspicious from her escape or just staying there, she ran out of time and was led into a police car, where they dropped her off at a juvenile facility. She had to sign her name on a sign-in page, stating her name and her parents phone number. Danielle, of course, wrote down "Dani" and put a frowny-face where everything else should be. A woman that smelled like cat pee at the receptionist counter told her that she'd be in there shortly.

So that's how Danielle ended up reading some weird fashion magazines and staring at the gray walls in a small room with only one mirrored window, a video camera pointed straight at her and no escape.

A woman walked in from the door, the receptionist from outside, holding a clipboard a pen. Her graying brown hair was up in a neat bun and her grayish high heels complemented her white pant suit. Dark sunglasses covered her eyes. Danielle was almost sure this woman was from the Guys in White. At least the smell of cat pee had lessened.

The woman took Danielle's bag and dumped it to the seat next to herself and looked at Dani. "Hi, my name is Priscilla. You're Dani?"

Danielle nodded. Priscilla wrote something down. "Where ya' from, honey?" she fiddled with the pen.

"Amity park," Danielle replied. She really wished she had chosen a fake city, but it was too late to take back her choice.

"Oh, like the one with the ghost boy? Uh, what's his name, Danny Phantom?" Danielle nodded again. There was a slight pause as Priscilla reviewed the next question.

"Alright then, what's your parent's phone-number?" Priscilla didn't look up. She didn't have to to understand that the question wasn't a good one. "Alright, do you at least know a phone number of a friend?" No. "An orphanage?" No. "Any phone line other than 911?" Well, she knew Vlad's (why he had taught her, she would never know); and there was Danny's- _wait, I don't remember it now_. _I'll have to ask next time I'm in town._ Of course she wasn't going to say either, so no. Priscilla sighed.

"Well if you don't have any living relatives, you will be placed in foster care." Oh no. Danielle had heard the horror stories of children getting in and out of foster care their entire lives and never living it to the fullest and becoming killers and- _stop thinking about that, you'll be alright._ Priscilla took the bag of Danielle's belongings (if you can call some stolen money and clothes "belongings") and waltzed out of the room, despite the halfa's protests. She sat back, fuming. First, she had to live at some weird family's house, then they take her stuff (which she stole; she really had to point that out today, didn't she)? That's just rude.

 _Whatever._ Danielle just curled up on the _very_ uncomfortable chairs, spanning three of them, and tried to get some rest. Of course, when that didn't work, she tried it on the floor. No, it was hella cold down there (was the air conditioning coming directly _under_ the floor?). Under the chairs? Perfect. No light could penetrate her ready-made fortress. She took off her sweatshirt and draped it over her, then deciding to put it under her because she was still on the floor and it was still cold there. No seriously, if she had to guess it would be about 30 degrees fahrenheit - well it was an exaggeration, but what did she know? Oh, she could already feel the mucus forming in her eyelids. _Fun._

(enter line break here)

When Danielle was shook awake, her involuntary groans indicated that it had been less than a full night's of sleep. Well, it couldn't have been a night - wasn't it like, nine when she was caught? Oh god, and what _day_ was it? Like, Saturday? That seemed like the most plausible to her. Or was it Friday? She did buy some food, like some bread or something, on a Friday, and it seems like it would've been today… okay, now she was confused.

Warbling, like ones you'd hear in a peanuts cartoon which gradually gave way to an actual voice (after, of course, a couple of shakes of the shoulder and more groans.)

"We've found a nice home for ya'," she said. Wait, who was she again? Something with a 'p-' Parker? Peyton? _Uhh_ … oh yeah, Priscilla. Sounded like 'princess,' that's how she'd remember.

Oh, she was still talking. "It's got a nice couple, with two girls of their own," the sweatshirt was pulled from under her, along with a grunt of force. Damn, the floor was still cold. "April and Elisa, I think." Danielle opened her eyes and let them adjust to the light. "They won't be going' to your school, but I'm _sure_ you'll make friends."

Danielle squinted at the light, high off the ground. _Why can't those things be turned off when a girl wakes up?_ "What time is it?" she asked slowly.

A couple seconds and came, "About twelve-thirty-six, I would say. Well, my watch is always fast, so we'll see." Danielle crawled out from the chairs, cringing when she saw the big smile on Priscilla's face. _Why is she so happy?_

"We should be leaving soon," Priscilla declared, rolling up the sweatshirt and tossing it lightly into Danielle's face. She didn't even flinch when it hit her, blinding her once again. _Blissful darkness._ "Oh, the Dwyers are already calling in! We should go,"

Danielle was lead from the vacant room to a nicely-furnished cop car- little ornaments swinging from the mirror, pink covering the steering wheel, even a rainbow sticker stuck on the passenger seat window. How this was even up to code, she would probably never know.

Priscilla was singing songs that sounded like the ones you'd sing when you're high or something, when Danielle grew bored. She watched out the window, seeing a sign that claimed "Ride City - Water gun world capital" _kind of a crap capital, if you ask me._

Finally, Danielle was sick of Priscilla's happiness, since she was afraid her happiness would affect her dark mood (one she'd hoped would keep up). "What are you so _happy_ about?" Danielle asked, pretending the saliva that left her mouth was acid, burning away the car and hopefully stopping this madness.

"While you were asleep, I found out I won the lottery for twenty whole dollars!" Priscilla hummed over the music. She tapped her fingers on the wheel in anticipation for the next lyrics. _Is she getting paid enough?_ "That could pay for a week's worth of cat food!" _Oh._

"Just _how_ many cats do you own?" Danielle eyed her suspiciously.

"I don't know. Okay, so there's Meowzers, Mittens, Snowball-" _wow, um, note to self: never ask a cat lady how many cats she has._ Danielle tuned her out, favoring the passing details.

An amusement park, tall building that didn't look like it belonged because of it's height, ooooh, a nice little antique shop she'd _have_ to go to later. If she's already in town, why not enjoy herself a bit- I mean, it's not like he's watching her every move. There's got to be _some_ weak spots.

Whatever. Vlad shouldn't be on your mind right now. In this moment, you have to worry whether or not you'll be going to school or not. _Oh wait no please, I don't know any of the subjects and I don't know if people will like me-_ she'd have to work on her excuse.

Oh wait, the car has stopped. "We're here," Priscilla claimed, turning off the radio and getting out. She opened the door for Danielle, letting her step out. _Last chance to run,_ she thought. It was almost as if the world was mocking her. Ha, putting her in stupid situations like this that the world _knew_ she could get out of, but refused on the behalf of Vlad knowing where she was hiding this time. _Stupid world._

A white, neat house was nestled in the suburbs. _Shelby Road, right? Ah, it was probably something else ending in -lby. Are there other words ending with -lby? Like, Houselby? Okay no. More research is required._ A giant willow tree hung down, most of it's strongest branches only as high up as Danielle herself.

"This is the place," Priscilla said, flipping her hair. "Don't worry, this place is good. They've got some of the best cookies in town, I would say." Danielle liked the sound of cookies.

"The _best_ you say?" Danielle challenged. "Even better than my _super-duper, uh, sugar coated honey-baked chocolate nuts?_ " Priscilla rolled her eyes.

"Alright, I better not see you back at the station," she said, pushing her sunglasses back up. "Unless, of course, it's to say hi,"

"Maybe you can call me, bring one of your cats to the station,"

"I've already had five banned, I don't want to be demoted or anything."

" _Five cats?_ "

"Oh yeah, weren't you listening? I've got a ton- like, two different Beethovens."

"Point taken."

Oh no, they were walking towards the house now. Priscilla led Danielle to the front door, briskly knocking on it. A woman, somewhere in her late forties, answered. Her dark brown hair and eyes contrasted to her light blue sweater.

"Hey, it's Priscilla- from the station?" Ah, the woman's eyes lit up in recognition. "This is Danielle."

"Oh hi, Danielle," The woman said loudly. "I'm Max, and _Dylan get in here now!_ " A man with sand-blonde hair and blue eyes, _Dylan, I'm guessing,_ walked next to Max. "Introduce yourself!" Max urged.

"Uh, hi- _what's her name?_ " Dylan whispered to Max.

"Hi, my name's Danielle, but you can call me Dani- with an 'i.'"

"Oh, right!" Dylan hit his head in realization. "Hi Dani, I'm Dylan. Our kids are inside right now if you'd like to meet them."

Dani looked expectantly at Priscilla. Priscilla shrugged. "Go on, you'll have fun," she claimed. She turned to Max and Dylan. "Well, I'll be off. Just call if you need anything."

Danielle watched Priscilla drive off, leaving skid marks behind. _Was she driving that recklessly before?_

And with that, Danielle was led by a man and a woman, one she'd known for about a minute, into their house.

 **hey look it's me**

 **I'm feeling really hyped for this. It's over 2k words, which is something I can say I've only ever one in a one shot.**

 **Gotta give thanks to my main man Al, who helped me with dialogue n' shit but didn't really helped out with anything else so thanks?**

 **So uh, if you enjoyed review or something idc if you do or don't. Criticism is a big part of any writer's, well, writing ability so if you have anything, anything at all, tell me and I will make sure to take your feedback into consideration. Or you could flame it, I still wouldn't care.**


	2. Chapter 2

**hey look the second chapter**

 **Woah, people are actually reviewing (?). I don't know why you'd want to do that.**

 **So uh, thanks to everyone who followed and stuff. I'll try to get chapters out sooner, but writing is a skill that I don't have. Also, I'm a bitch.**

 **Down at the bottom of the chapter, I'll be responding to some reviewers.**

 **This fic for me is just exploring what I can do and what my limits are. I want to explore how I can make my characters natural. To be honest, I don't exactly have much of a storyline in mind.**

 **haha, I've just realized that sometimes I switch POVs from the third person to the second person sometimes. I kinda like it!**

After Danielle was led into the nice, white house on a clean street, she thought she would regret it. _I mean, who needs family anyways? You've survived without one- well, I mean, I melted for a while but that's beside the point._ Well, she soon realized she wouldn't.

Half the kitchen was smoking, while the other was overflowing with bubbles, each on their respective sides. _How does someone even do this on purpose, much less accident? Wait, or is that saying said the other way around?_ She could see the living room was nicely furnished, cozy and roomy- along with covered in pink drawings of _were those unicorns? No, those have to be faires! Wait, are those even wings?_

Red couches were next to reddish-brown coffee-tables in a light red room. _Lots of red, I see. I wonder if they paint the walls with the blood of their enemies?_ Almost everything in that room was some variant of red. Even the television frame was a faded pink. _Why?_ Danielle would probably never know the answer to this question. _Oh god, and the carpets are green why shouldn't they be? It's not like eye-bleeding colors are my_ favorite-

Oh, the kitchen is still on fire.

Dylan grabbed the mounted fire extinguisher. _Does this really happen so often that they have to get one near the house?_ He sprayed half the kitchen, then slip-slid through the other to retrieve the two forms, one covered in smoke marks and the other in bubbles.

The younger girl bobbed up and down when she saw Danielle, a random assortment of plastic bracelets on her wrist almost coming off. The older of them just folded her hands over her arms, attempting to look bored while also trying to casually blow a stray lock of hair from her face. _What a lovely bunch._

Max turned away from the mess of everything to Danielle, saying, "I'm sorry you had to come into seeing something as- well, _chaotic,_ as this," she eyed the older one, "because _some_ people don't understand that you shouldn't set the kitchen on fire!"

The older one stepped up. "It's not _my_ fault I can't cook for shit!" she boldly claimed. The younger one giggled. "I got that through _your_ crap genetics!"

"Don't swear in front of your sister," Dylan warned, getting a mop or broom or whatever ( _I can't tell the difference between the two_ ) from a closet. "Or in front of Dani."

Max sighed. "Canned peas and carrots it is." Max walked over to the kitchen, still slightly smoking. "April, why don't you show Danielle around? Not you though, Elisa."

Danielle was taken by the arm of the younger girl. _Were those clip-on earrings? I tried some of those once - they hurt. Why would anyone purposefully subject themselves to this?_ "Hi, I'm April!" she said, a couple of bubbles on her head popping. "Your room is down here," She was drug across the hallways again. _Why is this girl so strong?_ Somehow Danielle was pushed from the chaos and into a hall, with two doors on each wall and one at the end. Each door was painted a different color. A pink, brown, red, white, blue and purple was painted on each one. _These people really like color coding their things._ "I've got the pink one. I think you have the blue one since we used to use it as a guest room whenever grandma would come over!" April opened the door to reveal a cozy, neatly decorated space. There was barely enough room for a closet, bed, and desk but Danielle loved it.

"Uh," Danielle started, not knowing what to say. "Thanks?" the girl giggled again, shutting the door behind her. _Oh. Guess I'll be in here for a while._

Danielle started by checking the room for spyware all over - under the desk, behind the bed and in the highest corner of the closet, noticing the pink note on the bed. "WELcome to OuR HOUSE!" was written in bright yellow and blue and purple and _oh my god how many colors are on there?_

When she hoped she was done examining the room, she began to inspect the closet. Rows of pink skirts, blue jeans, and red sports jackets were everywhere, filling the entire closet. _I guess they didn't know what I liked._ She picked some black leggings and a blue tee-shirt from the rack, along with ( _embarrassingly)_ some underwear Danielle decided is the color white since she didn't want to look at it. Dani hid it in between the clothes and carried them out to the living room.

Max was starting to clean up the kitchen, scrubbing the scorch marks from the floor, while Dylan started pouring various cans into bowls and nuking them in the microwave. Elisa and April were sitting on the red couch, making Danielle wonder why they would even place a TV there because it placed the watcher right in front of the windows which were open. _Nice_.

"Oh, um," Dani started approaching Max. Max looked up, "is it okay if I put these on real quick?"

"Yeah, Dani, you can take a shower too. Just be back for lunch." Danielle smiled, starting to walk away, before asking which door the bathroom was. "The white one, at the end of the hall."

"Thanks," Dani said, before walking along the hall to the one she was looking for. "For everything." she finished, locking the door behind her.

 **(linebreak)**

A figure, draped in shadows, turned towards the window. Rain pelted them, creating a sort of tune - or, at least, that's what it sounded like to him. Moonlight Sonata, the most recent piano song stuck in his head, is what the drops were trying to communicate. Or was it Raindrop Prelude? He supposed that would have to take some thinking.

But now was not the time. He had some work to do.

He opened his drawer, phasing his hand through the false back. His hand groped around until it finally pressed the button at the back, then relaxed. He just had to wait a minute or two-

Oh, here they are now! Two more figures, one tall and one short, trotted in like they had better things to do. _Ha, what a preposterous statement._

"Oh Vlad, what is it now?" Spectra said, smoothing her red hair. "I've just received your message and I can't _believe_ you've called us here."

"Ah yes, well, my normal employee is out, so you are my second choice."

Spectra pretended to act surprised. " _Only_ your second? And here I was, thinking I was thought of highly of you."

"Then you'd be mistaken."

"Hey, don't talk to the lady like that," Bertrude declared. Vlad just looked at him, hoping his glopping form wouldn't drip on his new carpet. Bertrand didn't share his thoughts after that.

"Alright, Vlady-pants, what is it this time? Do you need some more children terrorized for _another_ party you're hosting?"

"Unfortunately, I have something bigger." Spectra motioned him to go on. "I have an…" he searched for the right words, "experiment, that got loose."

" _Another?"_

"This one is different. She calls herself 'Danielle' and lives somewhere in the Ride District in Michigan. I haven't quite figured out where, but I'm sure that with your _expert_ thinking, you'll be able to find her."

"And what do we do when we find her?" Bertrand asked.

"Just bring her back here. I do not think more rules are to be put into place," he pets his cat like a super villain would ( _Well, in this case, wasn't he just that? Ordering his henchmen to do his dirty work?)_. "I will be able to get your normal payment after you have completed the task."

Spectra look genuinely surprised. " _All_ of that? For just one little experiment gone wrong?" She smiled. "Seems like a bit much, Vladdy-poo."

"She's very much capable of handling herself, but she has only recently been stabilized. I feel as though you will be able to handle her."

Vlad turned away, looking back at the rain. It started to let up, finally. His Maddie program always worked better when it was sunny out. "Well then," he said, "Off with you. I expect to see you here within the three-week deadline."

He heard the large doors to his study, then his castle shut with a large and pompous " _Boom." Thank you, I needed my door frames replaced anyways._

Maddie purred as Vlad stared out the window. _Ah yes, that is Moonlight Sonata_ , he decided.

 **If you're wondering, Spectra and Bertrand's payment is about 1.5 million dollars. Spectra, being as confident as she is, refuses to do the "work of a petty thief," so she will take up a job from Vlad when it arises to buy a nice house in the human world to continue the work of sucking the life from children. Ah, that took me awhile to think of.**

 **Fuck that ending was awkward but I'm tired**

 **Hello reviewers let's respond**

 **pixelberry101: fuck you**

 **Micheal78: I hope it's good too.**

 **austin52896: thanks. Trust me I'm trying with my ocs - with 18 size font, the descriptions of about 5 or 6 is about 12 pages.**

 **Kiylie: stop**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey. I'm back.**

 **Been a while, huh? Too long, in fact. I didn't even wait this long to update in the original. I should work on this more.**

 **Alright, I'm not going to give any excuses, because I know I'm a piece of shit for not getting this in earlier. I've got nothing to say.**

 **Have fun reading.**

Getting all of her clothes together, Danielle rung her hair out from the shower and drew a smiley face into the foggy mirror, deciding against it and rubbing it away. She got a good look at her face.

She couldn't describe it. Telling someone what your own face looked like just wasn't made to be put into words. Maybe it was because every face is complex. _Wow, Dani, way to get into it._

She unlocked the door and tries to walk out, also trying not to slam into whatever the hell was in the way. _Oh right, intangibility._ She pokes her head through to make sure no one was looking and phased through, picking up one of the many figurines. Most of them were about the size of her entire hand, lined up single file in front of the bathroom door - actually, every door. Many of them have little scuff marks, meaning that someone didn't take the time to delicately move around them.

Danielle guesses it was April's doing.

Dani smells cheap food, which in her mind, was great. Any food was great. Pastries were the best; especially the ones that would be filled with cream and then had little sprinkles on them. They were the greatest food of all time. Dani could probably eat them all day if she could. She'd get one hell of a stomach ache, but it would be worth it.

"Oh, hey Danielle!" Max says from the couch, turning off the TV. "We were just about to finish dinner. Anything else you'd like, other than burnt corn?" Nope, sounded delicious. Dani responds by shaking her head. Max seems puzzled but doesn't say anything about it. "How do you even burn corn," Dani hears Max mutter to herself.

"Hey, Dylan," Dani waves some vapor out of her face as she waltzes into the kitchen. Dylan seems to be boiling something and failing since half of the water is in the air. "Need any help?"

"I don't think so," he recoils as he drops something into the pot of water and is burned. He glares at his arm, turning to Dani. "Uh, can you get me an ice pack? It's behind the ice cream in the freezer." _Which one is the freezer?_ Maybe it's the big part of the fridge. Dani opens it up to see no ice pack; instead, many items are haphazardly stored. _Wrong guess._ She pulls the smaller part away from the top, seeing the large, blue pack of gel or whatever. It's behind some ice cream (just as Dylan had predicted), so making sure no one is looking, Dani phases her hand through the container to get your prize. It feels colder than normal. "Here you go," Dani hands Dylan the pack. He thanks you, placing it on his arm and tending to whatever's in the pot.

"Hey, Max? How many packs of ramen do we have left?" What's ramen? _Ah, you'll ask later._

"There's two chicken and four beef," Max replied from the other side of the kitchen. "We've got enough for everyone, if that's what you're wondering."

Dani walks from the kitchen to the connected dining room. The table is neatly set and Elisa and April and already sitting at the table. Elisa is doing something on her phone while swatting April away, who is excitedly but quietly chanting "Elisa has a boyfriend!" Dani laughs a little. What she wouldn't give for a sibling like that.

Elisa glances up and sneers at you. "What are you looking at, troll?" She's never been called a troll. Dani glares at Elisa. She glares back. Dani decides it would be in her best interest to look away.

Dylan pokes his head into the dining room. "Hey, Dani, what flavor of ramen do you want?" What flavors are there? "We've got chicken and beef,"

"Chicken sounds great," Dani smiles. Dylan scans the room one last time before shuffling back in. _I guess he caught a glance at Elisa._

April pulls at Dani's sleeve. She looks down to a happy April. "Come on, I want you to sit next to me!" Somehow, even with April's small stature, she forcibly plops Dani into the end chair facing away from the kitchen.

Sitting next to Elisa. Dani know that Elisa's going to tear her apart if she even breathes in her direction.

April starts talking but Dani tunes her out, focusing on the window. Even though there's a house in the way, she can see the different colors of the sky. It was pretty, even if they were just different shades of blue. She really liked the clouds for some reason. _I should go flying after lunch._

After a few minutes of looking at April, and then the sky, and then April again, the food was ready. Dylan and Max called to the children (Elisa complained about being called a child) that the ramen was slightly overcooked and that they'd have to put in their own flavor packets. _What's a flavor packet?_

Dylan points to an empty plastic bag. "Your flavor packet is in there, and it's chicken, like you asked." Dani looked at Danielle and then the bag, trying to process things. "Have you ever had ramen?"

Danielle scoffs. "Of course I have. I _totally_ know how this works." Dylan gave her a skeptical look but didn't say anything about it. Dani waits for everyone to leave the room and go into the dining room to unsheath the small packet. She ripped it open and spilled half of it on the ground. Dani decided that from now on, when opening ramen, she would do it over the bowl. Dani proceeded to dump the rest into the ramen.

 _I'll clean it up later._

Dani carries her bowl into the dining room and sat in her chair, receiving some weird looks. Max was the first to speak up. "Aren't you going to get some silverware?"

"Where is it?" Max facepalms. _Is she facepalming at me? Oh no, this is bad. I should leave—_

"I forgot to show you. C'mon, it's in here." Max herds her into the kitchen, showing her a drawer filled to the brim with forks, spoons and knives. All of them had plastic handles that were either red, blue or green. "I know it's a bit of a mess—" _a bit? It's completely clean,_ "but we'll get that sorted out soon. _Some_ one decided that buying cheap silverware in bulk without my consent was a good idea."

"Hey, it was a good deal!" Dylan declares, throwing his fist in the air.

Max shoves a spoon into Dani's hand. It was blue. She assumed this is what you eat with. "Go ahead, eat." Max ushered her back into the dining table, where April had thought she wouldn't notice the fact she had put a figurine on the seat.

Danielle picks it up. "What's this?" She examined it, seeing it was the same size as the previous figurines blocking the doorway earlier.

"You're silly," April says, taking the doll. "It's of you!" She shoves it into Dani's face, letting her see that it was, in fact, her. "I made it while you were taking a shower." The hair was black and, for some reason, the eyes were green, green like her ghost form. "I've made action figures for all of my friends, even Elisa! She won't take it though," April pouted.

"You messed up my eyes," Elisa commented, looking up from her "soup." "You made me have red eyes. Everyone knows I have the prettiest camo-green in the school."

"I like making their eye colors different!" April protested, crossing her arms and standing up, getting into Elisa's face. "I make the colors of their eyes according to what color goes with them, and I thought you were red!"

Elisa slammed the table. "Dammit, April, I'm tired of you always getting things wrong!" Danielle turned to Dylan and Max, who had both paused and didn't move to do anything. _I guess this is normal._ "If you're going to give someone something, make sure it's right!"

"Says the person who doesn't know the difference between the two there's!"

"At least I know that there are _three,_ not two, asshole!" Max finally steps in after "asshole," demanding that Elisa apologize to both April for swearing and Danielle for making a fool of herself. After refusing, Elisa put away her dishes and slunk into her room before a punishment could be dished out. April sat proudly next to Danielle.

"As you can see," April says triumphantly, "I have won." Danielle looked at her.

"I can see that," she replies, looking between Dylan and Max. Danielle decided to not say _Pretty sure I can tell who the favorite is here_ since it would probably cause her some trouble.

Changing the subject, Danielle asked, "Why'd you make my eyes green? Why not purple or orange?" April beamed, a special little shine lighting up in her eyes.

"I'm glad you asked," Max and Dylan quickly left the room. Danielle thought that she should've been behind them.

What followed was a long-winded speech, closely resembling the monologues of such gems as Technus and the Box Ghost. Somehow, she lead Danielle into the TV room and put up a projector, showing how green was the best possible option and explaining what each color meant. Even though it was only about one-thirty when she started, it quickly devolved into two-forty-five. By the time that Max and Dylan had intervened and told April it was time for her to let Dani go out and explore the neighborhood, April had only just finished explaining what "Periwinkle" was, and what it showed about a person.

Dani had never experienced anything more traumatizing in her life.

"Alright, Dani, here's twenty dollars," Dylan hands Dani two bills, which she stuffed into the pockets of her shorts. "Go out and find a place and maybe get something to eat, but not too much, you have to save your appetite for some dinner." She was then shoved out the door by Max, who slammed it behind her. _Wow, I feel so welcome._

The first thing Dani did was try to retrace her steps to the little antique shop she saw on the way to the Dwyer's house. When that proved to be a fruitless effort, she ran into a couple bushes and changed into her ghost form. She didn't bother going invisible, just hoping that she wouldn't be seen.

Danielle flew over the town, looking at the little shops. It was pretty similar to Amity in a lot of ways. There were only a few major corporations, since almost everything was made locally.

 _There it is!_ Danielle points to it so she wouldn't lose it. It was a nice, quaint ( _What does that even mean? I've heard Vlad use it before_ ) little place, fashioned with a living space on the top. Danielle dove invisibly into a nearby alley, turning back into her human form. She shivered a little, feeling the chill of the early January air.

"The Family of Three," Danielle reads out loud to herself. The sign was red, while the building itself was a light shade of yellow. The old structure really didn't fit well crammed between two modern buildings, made from something stark white and glass.

When Dani pushed open the door, she saw shelves of knick-knacks and trinkets ( _Am I using that right? Or is it "tricket?")_. There was a cash register all the way in the back, hiding behind the mountain of stuff.

A boy came out from behind a wall of antiques, wearing some kind of black apron that read the title of the store on it. Dani couldn't tell his emotions. "Welcome to the Family of Three," he said in a monotone, "where there's actually five people in the family, but Dad thought they wouldn't have any more kids."

"I kinda like the name," Danielle states, wandering over to a shelf. Something small and wooden caught her eye. It was a little hand-made action figure of Danny Phantom that was unpainted. She picks it up, about to ask what it was before the boy answered it was ten dollars.

Danielle followed the boy to the counter, and when he turned around to charge her, she saw his nametag. "Hi, my name is **Emo Kid** " was scrawled onto it. _What kind of name is 'Emo Kid?'_ Dani looked up to see that she was being stared down by Emo kid. Trying to get the eyes away from her (or at least be distracted by it), she asks, "Is your name really Emo Kid?"

Emo Kid snorts. "Yeah. What else would it be?" _I'm pretty sure his name isn't Emo Kid._ He scanned the item with the tag on the bottom.

"Do you go to school here?" she asked, trying to strike up a conversation.

"Yeah, Ride Junior High." he answered. "Didya just move here?"

The cash register dinged, and Emo Kid waited for Dani to hand over her money; she wanted to talk a little before she left, though. "Well, I might be going there. What grade are you in?"

Emo Kid's eye twitched. "I'm in the seventh grade." Emo Kid got on his tiptoes, leaning in like he was about to tell her a secret. "Listen, I want to get my job done today so I can go upstairs and watch anime while it's still winter break, so can you just give me the money?" _What the hell's 'anime?'_

"Uh, okay." Dani thought this was probably not the last time she would see him. She hands him the money, he got out the change and offers her a bag in a robotic tone. She said no, strolling out of the building. "Bye, Emo Kid," she said before walking back to the alley she came from. Clutching the doll, she turned back into her ghost form and tried to enjoy herself.

Diving between the now few-and-far-between clouds, she observed the landscape below her. The ground was a bit dusty-looking and the sun only enhanced this look. Buildings were stacked on top of each other, some modern-looking and others old and decrepit. Danielle flew until she came across the sign that she first passed. "Welcome to Ride City - Water gun capital of the world!" _Still a pretty bad capital._ Now that she looked closer, she could see that there were red poppies planted all over the place. They seemed to be planted in some kind of pattern, so she flew up and saw that they outlined the DP symbol. It was small, but for some reason, it meant a lot to Dani.

Dani follows some of the roads back to the Dwyer's house, flew into some bushes and turns human a couple blocks away. When she finds what was probably their house, she rang the doorbell and when Dylan answered, she showed him the Danny Phantom doll. "Wow, that's great! Where'd you get it?" He asked, stepping aside to let Danielle come in.

"An antique shop I passed on the way here," Dani answered, scanning the room for April. "I was hoping April could paint it."

"Okay, Dani," Dylan says, checking his non-existent watch before looking at the digital clock on the wall. "You've got about an hour before we go shopping for dinner, and you're coming. No excuses." Danielle groaned. She hated shopping more than she hated school. There was just something about going down the aisles and waiting and being disappointed when your favorite snacks aren't sold in that store. Dylan lounges the couch, grabs the remote to the TV, which was on. "Don't act so dramatic," he drawled. "We're thinking store-bought chicken, but that could change. Anything specific you want?" Dylan flipped through the channels, not taking his eyes off Dani.

"No, I'll go with anything," she replies. "Do you know where April is?"

"Probably in the backyard. I'd suggest checking there first." Dylan finally finds a channel he liked, kicking his feet back and putting his arms behind his head. _Looks like he's having a fun time._ "The backyard's through the living room, back that way," he points his thumb behind him. Just as expected, there were many windows and a single sliding-glass door, closed and locked. April was outside, sitting on the cold grass and drinking something hot from a mug. She didn't have a coat or anything on, just a t-shirt and some leggings. She was just staring at the sky. Dani thought it was a bit creepy.

Dani unlocks the door ( _why was it locked?)_ and stepped outside, immediately regretting it – somehow she had forgotten how cold it had been – but she was determined.

The entire backyard had been in shade for most of the day, so the grass was still a bit dewy. Dani liked the way it reflected back at her.

April turns around and looks at Dani when Dani's shoes contacted the grass. Dani didn't know what to do, so she just pushed herself forwards. "Hey, April," she says. April puts her drink down – _is that coffee?_ – and steps up.

"Hi, Dani!" April looked straight into Dani's eyes, then into whatever was in her hand. "Whatcha' got there?"

"Oh, this?" Dani said nonchalantly, unravelling her fist to show April. Her eyes widened visibly with excitement. "I got it at a shop. I was actually wondering if –" April took the Danny Phantom doll from her hand. "Or just take it," she muttered. April examined it closely, putting her fingers to certain places.

"Do you want me to paint it?" _How does she read my mind?_

"Yeah, thanks! That'd be great." April took her drink and escorted Dani back inside with her.

"It'll be a few hours," April announced, before chugging the contents of her drink and putting it on one of the end tables. April suddenly smirked. "Hey Dani," she said, motioning for her to follow, "Come over here, so you can see Elisa's room." April knocked before cracking open the door.

Everything was covered in Danny Phantom merchandise. The walls were engulfed in posters, she had a white and green bedspread and she had even somehow gotten a rug in the shape of his face. _Weird,_ Dani thought. _Well, I'm definitely not telling this one about my ghost half. She might go crazy._ April nudged Danielle, pointing to the night stand. It was covered in used Danny Phantom cups and glasses. "She's got, like, the entire collection of them," she said. "I think she's actually out shopping for more stuff now."

"This is..." Dani searched for the right wording, "a bit insane."

"I know, right?!" April agreed, leading Dani back out of the room. "She's even got her own blog where she writes everything she finds out about Danny Phantom," April started to go into her own room, but left it cracked just enough to say "Oh, and don't tell her I let you in her room. She'll kill us both." The door then slammed shut.

Dani decided that watching April paint Danny Phantom wasn't going to be an option, since she had kind of slammed the door in her face. Elisa was out, so she can't find out more about her. _Maybe Dylan has something to do._

Far away, in a cliché dark castle that housed but one (well, two if you count the cat), it was raining. The dark figure that lived in the huge abode sat at his desk, staring through the cameras. He had planted them all over Amity Park, but still, there was no sign of Danielle. He knew she had already skipped town, but he didn't expect her to be anyplace so far from Amity.

The figure, with slicked gray hair and an evil grin to match, presses the button under his desk. Within seconds, a bulky robot appeared in the doorway, knocking it down. The darken figure rolled his eyes.

"You have intangibility for a _reason,_ you know," he stated, staring the robot down. "There's no reason to break down my door. That'll be coming out of _your_ paycheck."

"What paycheck?" he asks, flying over the broken wooden pieces. "Besides, you're rich and you _know_ I looked so cool when I did that."

"If by 'cool,' you mean 'looking like a complete idiot,' then yes, Skulker, you were very _cool_."

Skulker scoffs. "Whatever, Vlad. What do you need me to do this time?"

Vlad turns one of his many monitors to face Skulker. "Remember this girl?" he asked.

"Of course I remember the girl," Skulker spat, standing his ground. "The first day she came out of her cloning tube, she destroyed my suit and called me – _me!_ – a metal face." He stalked up to Vlad, staring at the monitor before switching to Vlad. "What about her?"

"I need you to find her for me."

Skulker narrowed his eyes. "Why? Do I get to keep her?"

"Once I'm done studying her, yes, you can keep the ectoplasmic remains of what used to be Danielle Phantom."

 **Spooky.**

 **Let's respond to the reviews now!**

 **pixelberry101: Fuck you, I'll do what I want.**

 **16: Thank** _ **you**_ **for reviewing!**

 **BeanBag343: Vlad will play a part eventually (see chapter), but he won't be the driving force of evil. There won't exactly be a main plot like most stories. I'm not exactly a plot-driven person and I really want that to reflect in my writing.**

 **CHEESEPUFF: I thought that everything in the house should be a certain color, and after experimenting a little, I found that it's more fun to color code everything than to keep it one color.**


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